Tick season means taking precautions

Lyme disease has pretty much taken over the lives of the Dorow family of Danville.

Suzanne Laurent

Lyme disease has pretty much taken over the lives of the Dorow family of Danville.

Thaiadora Katsos Dorow and her two children, Luke, 7, and Lexi, 4, suffer from Stage 3 Lyme disease. Dorow wasn't diagnosed until after the birth of Lexi, and it is believed her children contracted the disease in utero. As she and her children struggle with long-term effects of the disease, Dorow said the best line of defense is protection.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services reported May 20 that 1,689 cases of Lyme disease were identified in the state in 2013, with the highest rates of disease in Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford counties.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 30,000 cases in the United States in 2012 (the most recent year for which data are available), and New Hampshire had the highest incidence rate of Lyme disease in the country.

The disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdoferi and is transmitted to people by the bite of an infected black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick. The greatest risk for Lyme is from May through August, when the black-legged tick is in the juvenile stage. It is the size of a poppy seed and very difficult to detect, so people may be unaware they have been bitten.

Ticks that transmit Lyme can also transmit other diseases, such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis or the Powassan virus. Although not as common as Lyme, these diseases can also cause illness.

Dr. Peter Sebeny, an infectious diseases and internal medicine physician at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, said for a tick to transmit disease, it has to be engorged and attached to the skin.

"If it has been attached and engorged for more than 36 hours, the person is at risk for exposure to disease," he said.

Not everyone gets the telltale bull's-eye rash associated with a tick bite. If a person has removed a tick from his or her skin and begins to see a rash, it would be wise to visit a primary care provider.

"About 70 percent of people will get a rash at the site of the bite within the first week," Sebeny said. "Their (primary care physician) will treat them with antibiotics."

Symptoms usually begin within a month of exposure, but onset can range from three to 32 days. Other signs and symptoms to look for are fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle and joint aches. Some may develop a fever or have headaches and neck stiffness.

If people don't seek treatment, the disease can develop into Bell's palsy (drooping of one side of the face), meningitis, or Lyme carditis, which is exhibited by lightheadedness and a low heart rate.

"People may have fever, headaches, a stiff neck and photophobia (sensitivity to light)," Sebeny said. "They can also develop Lyme arthritis, which is an enlarged swollen joint, commonly the knee joint."

Sebeny said the focus is on prevention.

"All the things your mother told you, like wearing a hat outside, light-colored long sleeved shirts and pants when in the woods and protect yourself with products containing at least 20 percent of DEET, like Deep Woods Off," he said. "Once inside, take a shower and do a tick check."

Dorow believes she had the disease for at least seven years and that her two pregnancies pushed the dormant state of Lyme into an active state.

She had been a principal at the Charlotte Avenue Elementary School in Nashua. After her second child was born, she began struggling with profound fatigue and varied bizarre medical conditions.

"I had become neurologically challenged, with a brain that failed me in a job that required me to be at the top of my cognitive game," Dorow said. "I had no choice but to resign."

Dorow invites the public to follow her personal Facebook page for posts about her life with Lyme disease and for her latest research information. Visit http://on.fb.me/1lKMcRB.

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